Multicolor-printing press



' e. FQM' INDOE .MULTICOLOR PRINTING PRESS Filed July 22, 1921 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 MD W W2 a wfi J Dec. 1,519,544-

' G. F. M INDOE MULTICOLOR PR INT ING PRES 5 Filed July 22 1921 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 l7 Z 341 33 1 325/75 35 Dec. 16, 1924. 1,519,544

G. F. MCINDOE MULTICOLOR PRINTING PRESS Filed July 22, 1921 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Dec. 16, 1924. Y 1,519,544

G. F. M lNDOE MULTICOLOR PRINTING PRES S InvenZ'w;

Patented Dec. 16, 1924.

GEORGE r. Momma, or

LOCKPORT, new YORK, PAPEBMILLS, or nocxron'r, NEW YORK,

PATENT OFFICE. I

ASSIGNOK or ONE-HALF TO NIAGARA A conrone'non or NEW YORK.

muri'rroononwrnm'rme' rnzass.

Application filed m 22, 1921. Serial no. 486,707.

To all whom it may concern Be it known-that I, GEORGE F. McINnoE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lockport, in the county of Niagara and 6 .State of New York, have invented new and ,useful Improvements in Multicolor-Printing Presses, of which the following is a I specification. 1

This invention relates to a' multi-color printing press for printing a continuous pattern on a strip of material, such as wall a er. a A p ne of the objects of this inventionis to provide thepress with simple means for effectively controlling the supply and uniform distribution of color to the pattern or printin rolls.

Another object is the provision of improved means for adjusting the several pat tern rolls in order to properly register their patterns with one another. I Further. Objects of the invention are to provide simple means for adjusting the pat- 4 tern rolls relatively to the impression cyl inder to permit the use of pattern rollsof difi'erent diameters and to render the impression cylinder movable with relation to j the pattern rolls by convenient means, so that it may be wit drawn from said rolls until the color has been thoroughly distributed thereon, thereby avoiding waste of a er. p Still further Objects are to simplify the press in other respects and to provide a machine of this character which is reliable .in

operation.

In the accompanying drawin s: Figure 1 is a side elevation of a multi-co or press embodying my improvements. Figure 2 is a fragmentary front view thereof. Figure 3 is a sectional top plan view-thereof. Figure -t is an enlarged transverse section on line 1-4, Fig. 3; Figure 5 is a vertical section on line 5-5, Fig. 4. Figure 6 isa fragt5 menta-ry vertical longitudinal section on line 6--6, Fig. 2. v Figure 7 is an enlarged transverse section on line 7-7, Fig. 3. 'Fi re 8 is a longitudinal section on line 8-8, *ig. 3., Figure 9 is an enlarged transverse section on line 9-9, Fig. 3. Figure 10 is an enlarged vertical section on line 10-l0, ure 11 is a horizontal section Fig. 9. Fig on line 11-11, Fig. 10, Figure 12 is a' frag;-v

. auxiliary distributing mentary sectional elevation of oneof the rolls having the spacing sleeves thereon. Figure 13 is an enlarged cross section on line 13-13, Fig. 2.

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several vlews.

20 represents the base or bed of the press and 21, 21 the side frames which are mounted on said base and upon which the workmg parts of themachine are supported.

22 represents the platen roll or impression cylinder which is mounted on a horizontal shaft23 arranged transversely at the front end of the machine andjournaled in suitable bearing blocks 24 adjustably mounted in the SIdB frames. Each of these bearing blocks s movable lengthwise of the frame by a screw 25 connected with said 'blockand engaging a nut 26 secured to said frame, the screw. being provided with a suitable hand wheel 27 for rotatin it.

Keyed to the she t 23 is a driven gear wheel 28 which meshes constantly---xv-itlia relatively small gear 29 keyed to a driving shaft 30 journaled in suitable hearings in the side frames 21 and provided at one end w th a pulley 31 adapted for connection w th a source'of power. By means of this drive mechanism, the impression cylinder is rotated in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 8, to advance the paper around the rear side thereof.

'32, 33 represent a pair of sheet guiding rolls which are disposed vertically below the lower side of the impression cylinder 22 and 1ournaled at their ends in bearin brackets 34 secured to the front ends 0 the side frames, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The paper or web 33 to be printed passes forwardly from the supply roll, not shown. around the front side of the lower roll 32 and thence rearwardly between the latter and the upper roll 33 to the impression cylmder.

Arranged at the rear end of the machiiw are a series of ink or color fountains 35 which are disposed one above another. three of such fountains being shown in th drawings. These fountains are arranged transversely of the machine between the side frames 21, the upper and lower fountains being preferably "arranged vertically in line shafts 23. These arms a sprocket wheel 42 mounted on one end of a short transverse shaft 43. Secured to the other end of the latter is a gear wheel 44 which meshes with a gear wheel 45 mounted on the impression cylinder shaft 23. .To

permit of adjusting and tightening the. drivmg chain, it preferably passes under an idler wheel 46 carried b an adjustable vertically-swinging lever 4 fulcrumed on the shaft43. I I I By this arrangement the color rolls are ositively driven at a uniform rate of speed. hould it be desired to temporarily stop the rotation of any of these rolls, for instance, if too much color is being diitributed by these rolls to the printing mechanism, a suit able clutch is employed for each color roll for disengaging the same from the drive mechanism. In Figs. 3 and 9 is illustrated the preferred form of. clutch which consists of a-stationary, toothed member 48 and a shiftable toothed member 49 actuated by a horizontally swinging hand lever 50.

Each color fountain forms a part of a single-color printing unit, which, together with the remaining units, produces the.

multi-colored pattern on the sheet trait is passed through the machine. Each of these, unitsis preferably constructed as printing follows:

51 indicates the'pattern or printing roll which is carried by a shaft 52 and whlch is' arranged transversely between the side frames 21. This pattern roll may be of any suitable construction'and-bears on its face the desired pattern, the paper to be printed passing between said roll and the impression cylinder in the usual manner. The pattern roll of the intermediate printing unit is journaled in longitudinally adjustable bearings 53 mounted on the side frames of the machine, while the corresponding upper and lower pattern rolls are journaled at their ends in bearing blocks 54 .carried by the outer'ends of vertically-swinging arms 55, 55, preferably fulcrumed on the ends of the are of equal length and the upper and lower pattern rolls are uidistant from the centralpattern roll. T e bearing blocks 54 are adjustable lengthwise of their arms, by adjusting screws 56, engaging opposite ends of said blocks.

lamping screws 57 passing through slotted ears 58 of these arms serve to hold the latter pression cylinder.

in position, while adjusting screws 59. engaging the front and rear edges of the lower and upper arms, respectively, permit of a fineadjustment of said arms to properly position the patternrolls relatively to the 1m- Furthermore, by providing the adjustable arms 55, pattern rolls of different diameters may be easily and quick-- ly substituted for those of the size shown in the drawings. For example, if it is desired to use smaller 'patternrolls, it is only necessary to swing the arms toward the center pattern roll to obtain a perfect circumferential register of said rolls with the impression cylinder 22 and color distributing rolls 60, while if it is vdesired to use larger rolls, the arms are correspondingly swung farther away from the center pattern roll to obtain a perfect register thereof.

Contacting with the rear side of each of the pattern rolls 51 is a color distributing roll or'cylinder 60 carried by a shaft 61 arranged transversely of the machinev and journaled at its ends in longitudinally-adjustable bearingif' blocks 62. The color is transferred from the color roll to this di's' tributing cylinder by a transfer roll 63, Figs. 6 and 8, which is preferably mounted to rock .or oscillate between said color roll and said distributing cylinder. For this purpose, the transfer roll is removably supported at its ends in upright rock arms 64 secured to a transverse shaft 65 journaled in bearings 66 securedto the side frames of the machine. Referring to Figs. 6, 9,10 and 11, a cam 67 mounted on the shaft 40 of the color supply roll and engaging a con-tact or I antliifriction roller 68 of the corresponding roc ,direction, while a spring 69 surrounding the shaft 65 and fastened at one end thereto the color supply roll shaft40 while t-heinnor section 71 is rotatably mounted on the hub 72 of said outer section and provided with" a couphn pin 73 adapted to register" with one or anot for of an annular row of openings .74 in the outer section. Said coupling pm is preferably carried by a flat spring 75 fastened to the face of the inner cam section to reliablyhold the coupling pin in place.

arm, serves to actuate the arm in one One of the sections.

Upon'withdrawing the ceupling pin from I I engagement with ,the outer camse'ction and turning the inner .c'am section relativelythereto'in one direction or' the other, the

eifective length of the cam-face is shortened i or lengthened and the period of contact of brackets 85 the transfer roll with the color su ply roll and color distributing roll is varie accordingly. This variable action of the transfer 'roll'relatively to the color. supply roll and distributing roll, permits the amount of ink or color to be regulated to suit various kinds of work.

Rotary movement may be imparted to the pattern roll 51 and color distributing roll of each printing unit in any suitable manner. As shown in Figs. 3 and 6, these rolls are preferably driven in opposite directions by intermeshing gear wheels .7 6 and 77, mounted on the respective shafts of said rolls, the gear wheels- 7 6 being driven by the gear wheel 28 which drives the impres-' sion cylinder 22.

Means are provided for reciprocating the distributing roll 60 endwise across the surface of the pattern roll 'to effect a more uniform distribution of the color thereon. The as shown in Figs. 6 and whose opposite sides engage a pair of upright rollers 79 journaled on fixed studs 7 9 carried by a bracket 80 secured to the adjacent side frame 21 of the machine. By this construction, when'thedistributing roll is rotated, it is at the same time reeiprocated across thesurface of the pattern roll'.

Running in contact with the upper sides of each main distributor roll 60 is a series of supplemental distributin rolls or riders 82 which serve to spread tlie color uniformly over the surface of said main distributor roll. The spindles 83 of these supplemental rolls are preferably supported in forked lwarings 84 removably arranged in the upper ends of adjustable brackets 85 supmrted on the distributing roll shaftfil, .as shown in Figs. 3, 6 and 7. Clamping screws 86 engaging slots 87 in the lower ends of these brackets are provided to hold them in adjusted position. when the bearing main distributing By this construction, blocks 62- supporting the longitudinally of the frame to accommodate pattern rolls. of different diameters, the

carrying the supplemental distributing rolls are likewise moved withsaid hearing bloc-ks, said suplemeutal roll remaining in substantially the same relative position on the main distributing roll. vDuring such adjustment,'each bracket 85 rocks about its clamping screw 86 as a fulcrum.

The supplemental distributing rolls 82 may he held fromgendwise movement, so as to turn only relatively to the main distributing roll 60; or they may be allowed to reciprocate therewith, or they may be allowed to reci rocate only apartial stroke or distance therew th, dependmgupori the particular Fig. 7, which are 4 of said pattern roll.

roll shaft-61 are adjusted- 2, .3 and 13, eachot s'plined pattern roll may character of the work to be printed. For producing these results, the spindles are provided near their ends with fixed collars 88, spaced more or less from the corresponding bearings 84, so that the supplemental distributing rolls are allowed to reciprocate with the main distributor roll by their frictional contact therewith, said collars alternately abutting against said bearings and limiting the stroke of the supplemental rolls. By interposing spacing sleeves. 89 between said collars and said bearings, as shown in Fig. 12, the supple' mental rolls are held against endwise movement relative to the, main distributor roll. By removing one of these spacing sleeves and leaving the other in position, the supplemental rolls are reciprocated with the main distributor roll, but their stroke is obviously shorter than when both of said sleeves are removed. I g

In order to properly register the pattern rolls 51 of the several printing units to reproduce the multi-colored pattern on the paper as it passes through the machine, each of them is capable of rotary adjustment independently of the others. For this purpose, reference being had particularly to Figs. 4 and 5, each of the pattern-roll driring gears 76 is 90 of a worm wheel 91 keyed to the shaft J ournaled 0n the outer side of. the driving gear is a worm 92 which meshes with said worm wheel, and which is provided with a square end 93 for turning it with a suitable wrench. The gear 76 is held against lateral displacement on its hub by a flange 94 extending from the inner edge of the latter and by said worm and worm wheel. These last-namcx'l elements not only permit of the rotary adjustment of the pattern roll, but also act as a positive coupling betweenthe driving gear 76 and the pattern roll sha'ftg-jwhereby motion is normally transmittedto'the latte-r from the gear 28. By this arrangement, independent rotary adjustment of the several pattern rollscan be easily and quickly effected without in anyway interfering with the rest of the driving mechanism of the machine.

Besides being capable of rotary adjustment to obtain a proper circumferential register of theirpatterns, the pattern rolls 51 are also capable of longitudinal adjustment on their shafts 52 to effect a proper horizontal or lateral register of their patterns For this purpose, as shown in Figs. "the pattern rolls is on its shaft, as shown at 52 splin'ed on said shaft at either end of the attern roll are adjustable collars 51 carrymg adjusting screws 51 which contact with the corresponding ends By manipulating these adjusting screws, the be moved in one direction loosely mounted on the hub Also of said pattern roll.

' vided for withdrawing the impression cylinder from contact with the pattern rolls without however throwing the cylinder out of gear with the pattern rolls, so as to malntain theproper register of their patterns.

This is accomplished by loosening the clamping screws 57 of the arms 55 and rotating the screws in the proper direction to move the impression cylinder forwardly out of contact with the pattern roll of the central printing unit. ,The pattern rolls of the upper and lower printing units may-then be withdrawn from contact-with the impression cylinder by moving the bearing blocks 54 thereof outwardly. Suitable stops 95 carried by the nuts-26, as shown in Fig. 1, may I be employed forlimiting the forward movement of the bearing blocks 24 and preventing the disengagement of the gears 28 and 76. By this construction, the printing and wasting of paper is avoided while thecolors are being thoroughly and uniformly distributed upon the pattern rolls through the medium of the color rolls, transfer-rolls and distributing rolls.

'The operation of the machine is as follows:

Assume the pa'ttern'rolls to be in proper register and the colors from the several fountains 35 to have been thoroughly dis tributed over said rolls in the manner hereinbefore described. The sheet or web 01' paper to be printed is now passed forwardly from the supply roll, not shown, thence rearwardly between the rolls 32, 33, and thence ii h s around the rear side of the impression cylinder to the take-up or rewind roll, not

" shown. Having thus threaded the web through the machine, power is ap lied to the pulley 31 to rotateth'e driving s aft 30, which transmits motion to the impression cylinder 22. From the latter motion is transmitted simultaneously to the three different-colored printing units, as hereinbefore described. As the paper passes through the p the patterns from the respective 'gattern rolls are reproduced thereon.

hould the operator find that one or another of the pattern rolls is receiving too much color, he maytemporarily throw it out of action and stop it by means of the correspondiiig clutch lever 50.' *On the other hand, if he finds that a pattern roll is not getting enough color, he may adjust the cam of the corresponding printing unit, so that the period of contact of the companiontransfer roll .61 withthe respective ing the desired results. As a whole, the machine is comparatively simple in construction, it is easily adjustable for printing various kinds of work, and it is reliable and efiicient in operation.

The pattern rolls 51 may be constructed of rubber or other material havin a flexible pattern surface wliile'the color dlstributing rolls 60 may be constructed of steel or similar material. The-preferred form of pattern roll employed with this. machine is shown and described in co-pending application No. 462,312, filed April is, 1921.

I claim as my invention:

1. A multi-color printing press, comprising a frame, an impression cylinder supported on said frame, a driving shaft geared to said impression cylinder, a plurality of color units each including a pattern-roll, a color-distributing roll and a color-supply roll, gearing on one side of the frame for driving the pattern and color distributing rolls, gearing on the opposite side of said frame for driving the color-supply rolls, both sets of gearing being driven from the impression cylinder, and clutch mechanism for "said color-supply rolls for selectively disengaging them from said driving gearing.

2. A printingpres s comprising a frame, an impression cylinder thereon, a color printing unit disposed in juxtaposition. to said impression cylinder and including a pattern roll, a main color distributing roll and a supplemental distributin tasting with the latter, means or; recipro ios eating said main distributing r'oll across'the face of said pattern roll, bearings ,for the' spindle of said supplemental distributing roll, fixed stops on said spindle for permitting the supplemental distributing roll to reciprocate in unison with the-main distribut ing roll the full length of its strokmand'dew tributing r011 contacting with the latter, reciprocate in unison witl said main dismeans for reciprocating said main distribtributing roll, and spacing sleeves detachnting roll across the -face of said pattern ably mounted on the supplemental distrib- 10 roll, bearings for the spindle of said suputing roll-spindle between said collars and 5 plemental distributing roll, stop collars said bearings. 1

fixed on said spindle and arranged to per- 7 I mit said supplemental distributing roll to GEORGE F. MOINDOE. 

